Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj[1] (pronunciation(help·info)) (born 6 January 1959), better known as Kapil Dev, is a former Indian cricketer. He captained the Indian cricket team which won the 1983 Cricket World Cup. Named by Wisden as the Indian Cricketer of the Century in 2002,[2] Kapil Dev is one of the greatest all-rounders of all time. He was also India's national cricket coach for 10 months between October 1999 and August 2000.

Kapil was a right-arm pace bowler noted for his graceful action and potent outswinger, and was India's main strike bowler for most of his career. He also developed a fine inswingingyorker during the 1980s, which he used very effectively against tail-enders. As a batsman, he was a natural striker of the ball who could hook and drive effectively. A naturally aggressive player, he often helped India in difficult situations by taking the attack to the opposition. Nicknamed The Haryana Hurricane, he represented the Haryana cricket team in domestic cricket.[3] He retired in 1994, holding the world record for the most number of wickets taken in Test cricket, a record subsequently broken by Courtney Walsh in 2000. At the time, he was also India's highest wicket taker in both major forms of cricket, Tests and ODIs. He is the only player in the history of cricket to have taken more than 400 wickets (434 wickets) and scored more than 5,000 runs in Tests,[4] making him one of the greatest all-rounders to have played the game. On 8 March 2010, Kapil Dev was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame[5]

Kapil Dev was born as Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj to Ram Lal Nikhanj, a building and timber contractor and his wife Raj Kumari in Chandigarh on 6 January 1959. [6] His parents had migrated from Rawalpindi during the Partition of India.[6] Kapil Dev was a student at D.A.V. School and joined Desh Prem Azad in 1971.

Kapil Dev made an impressive debut for Haryana in November 1975 against Punjab with a 6 wicket haul, restricting Punjab to just 63 runs and helping Haryana to victory. Kapil finished the season with 12 wickets in 3 matches.

In the 1976–77 season opener against Jammu & Kashmir, he had a match haul of 8/36 to win the match for his team. While his contributions for the rest of the season was ordinary, Haryana qualified for the pre quarterfinals. Kapil Dev achieved his then best innings haul of 7/20 in just 9 overs in the second innings to skittle Bengal for 58 runs in under 19 overs. Although Haryana lost to Bombay in the quarter finals, his form made the nation sit up and take notice.

For the 1978–79 season, Haryana had a repeat encounter with Bengal in the pre-quarterfinal match after a lackluster bowling season from Kapil Dev (12 wickets from 4 matches). Kapil Dev however scored 2 half-centuries in the group stage matches. In the pre-quarterfinal match, he rose to the occasion by taking a 5-wicket haul in the first innings. Poor batting by Haryana in the second innings meant Bengal could avenge their loss from 2 seasons back by scoring the required 161 runs for the loss of just 4 wickets. Kapil Dev stood out in the Irani Trophy match scoring 62 runs coming in at number 8. He also took 5 catches in the game where Karnataka was defeated by the Rest of India XI. Kapil Dev arrived in the national spotlight with a trademark standout performance in the finals of the Duleep Trophy taking a first innings haul of 7/65 in 24 overs. Kapil was included in the North Zone squad for Deodhar Trophy and Wills Trophy for the first time. He played his first Test match in the season against Pakistan

In the 1979–80 season, Kapil showed his batting talent with a maiden century against Delhi when he scored his career best 193. In the pre-quarterfinal match, where he captained Haryana for the first time against Uttar Pradesh, he took a five wicket haul in the second innings to advance to quarter finals where they lost to Karnataka. With Kapil cementing his place in the Indian national squad, his appearances in domestic matches dwindled.[citation needed]

In the 1990–91 Ranji season, Haryana rode into the semi-finals on the back of the bowling performance of Chetan Sharma and the batting performance of Amarjit Kaypee. Kapil took centre stage in the semi-final against Bengal, where he led his team to a Mammoth score of 605 runs by scoring 141 as well as taking 5 wickets.

The finals of the 1991 season will be remembered for the number of international cricketers who were part of the match with Kapil Dev, Chetan Sharma, Ajay Jadeja and Vijay Yadav turning up for Haryana and Bombay cricket team represented by Sanjay Manjrekar, Vinod Kambli, Sachin Tendulkar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Chandrakant Pandit, Salil Ankola and Abey Kuruvilla. Deepak Sharma (199), Ajay Jadeja (94) and Chetan Sharma (98) helped Haryana to a score of 522 while Yogendra Bhandari (5 wickets) and Kapil Dev (3 wickets) restricted Bombay to 410 runs in the first innings. A crucial 41 from Kapil and top scorer Banerjee (60) took Haryana to 242 runs, setting Bombay a target of 355 runs. After the initial wickets, Vengsarkar (139) and Tendulkar (96) fought back for the Bombay team. After Tendulkar's dismissal, Haryana took the final 6 wickets for 102 runs and Vengsarkar and Bombay were stranded 3 runs short of the target. Kapil won his maiden and only Ranji Trophy championship.[7][8]

Kapil made his Test cricket debut in Faisalabad, Pakistan on 16 October 1978. Although his match figures were unimpressive, the numbers did not convey any measure of Kapil's contribution in the match. With his speed and bounce, he brought glee to the Indian players as the Pakistani batsmen were startled with bouncers that struck their helmets on more than one occasion.[9] Kapil also captured his maiden wicket of Sadiq Mohammad with his trademark outswinger.[10] He showcased his all-rounder talent when he scored India's fastest Test half-century off 33 balls and 2 sixes in each of the innings during the 3rd Test match at National Stadium, Karachi,[11] although India lost the match and the series 2–0. In the ensuing series against a visiting West Indies team, he scored his maiden Test century (126) at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi in just 124 balls[12] and had a steady bowling performance (17 wickets at 33.00). Ominous signs of Kapil's liking for England showed up in the ensuring series, his first outside the sub-continent. Kapil picked up his first 5-wicket haul and all of England's wickets, although it came at a huge cost (48 overs and 146 runs conceded) as England scored a mammoth 633 and won the match comfortably.[13] Kapil finished the series with 16 wickets though his batting haul of 45 runs (Average: 7.5) was unimpressive. His debut in ODI Cricket happened in the earlier tour of Pakistan where his individual performance was ordinary and it stayed the same as both Kapil and India had a poor campaign at the 1979 Cricket World Cup.

Kapil Dev established himself as India's premier fast bowler when he took two 5-wicket hauls and ended the home series against Australia with 28 wickets (Average: 22.32) and also 212 runs that included a half-century.[14] Kapil Dev gained fame in the 6-Test home series against Pakistan in the 1979–80 season when he led India to 2 victories against the visitors – once with the bat (69) at Wankhede Stadium, Bombay[15] and the second time with bat and ball (10-wicket haul in match – 4/90 in the first innings and 7/56 in the second innings, 84 in 98 balls with his bat) at Chepauk, Madras (Now Chennai).[16] Kapil rates his all-round performance in this match as his best bowling effort in his career, and his second innings figure of 7/56 was his best to-date.[9] During the series, he also became the youngest Test player to achieve the all-round double of 100 Wickets and 1000 Runs and in 25 matches (although Ian Botham took just 21 matches to achieve the same feat) and finished the series with 32 wickets (Ave: 17.68) and 278 runs that included 2 fifties.[17]

Kapil Dev's career performance graph.

India's tour of Australia in 1980–81 had the looks of the familiar Indian series as India were 1–0 down and were defending a meagre 143 runs and Kapil Dev virtually ruled out with a groin injury. When Australia finished the fourth day at 18/3, Kapil willed himself to play the final day with pain-killing injections and removed the dangerous Australia middle order. Kapil won the match for India with the innings bowling performance of 16.4–4–28–5, a bowling performance that figures in his five best bowling performance.[9] During the Australian tour, he scored his first fifty in ODIs against New Zealand at Brisbane. Somehow India's Test cricket sensation was unable to adjust to ODI cricket and had a career start of 278 runs (Average: 17.38) and 17 wickets after 16 ODI matches.

A dismal New Zealand tour later,[18] Kapil Dev was ready for the 1981–82 home series against England where his five-wicket haul won the first test at Wankhede Stadium, Bombay. Kapil scored 318 runs (Average: 53, 1 century, 1 fifty) and took 22 wickets (2 5-wicket hauls) and walked away with the Man of the Series honours.[19] England saw more of Kapil in the ensuing series at home against the Indian cricket team in the 1982 season when he opened with a 5-wicket haul and 130 runs in a losing cause at Lord's.[20] Kapil Dev finished the 3-match series with 292 runs (Ave: 73, 3 fifties) and 10 Wickets and bagged the Man of the Series again.[21]

1983 Cricket World Cup won by India with Kapil Dev as Captain of the team

Kapil Dev debuted as India's captain in the 1982–83 season against Sri Lanka (before the Pakistan tour) when Gavaskar was rested. His first assignment as regular captain was the tour of West Indies, where the biggest accomplishment was a lone ODI victory. Kapil (72) and Gavaskar (90) led India to a huge score – 282/5 in 47 overs and Kapil's 2 wickets aided India to restrict West Indies for 255 and a victory[23] that Indian cricketers claim gave them the confidence to face the West Indies team in 1983 Cricket World Cup.[24] Overall, Kapil Dev had a good series in West Indies as he scored a century to save the second test match[25] as well as picking up 17 wickets (Average: 24.94).

Kapil entered the World Cup with an ordinary individual record – 32 Matches, 608 Runs (Average: 21), 34 wickets. India's solitary victory in the previous two World Cups was against East Africa in 1975. Riding on Yashpal Sharma (89 Runs), Roger Binny and Ravi Shastri (3 wickets each), India inflicted the West Indies' first-ever defeat in the World Cup.[26] Following a victory against Zimbabwe, India lost the next two matches – Australia (despite Kapil Dev's best career figures of 5/43)[27] and West Indies. India now needed victories against Australia and Zimbabwe to advance to semi-finals.

India faced Zimbabwe at Nevill Ground, Royal Tunbridge Wells on 18 June 1983 under overcast conditions. India won the toss and elected to bat. Disaster struck as the top order started a procession back to the dressing room as Gavaskar (0), Kris Srikkanth (0), Mohinder Amarnath (5) and Sandeep Patil (1) leaving India at a precarious 9/4 that turned to 17/5 when Yashpal Sharma (9) was dismissed. Batting with the lower order batsmen, Kapil Dev stabilised the side with a 60-run partnership with Roger Binny (22 runs) and a 62-run partnership with Madan Lal. When Syed Kirmani walked in at 140/8, Kapil Dev had scored his half-century and went on to score his century off 100 balls. Together with Kirmani (22 runs), Kapil put on an unbeaten 126 runs for the 9th wicket – a world record that stood unbroken for 27 years (10000 days),[28] and finished not out with 175 runs off 138 balls, an innings that included 16 boundaries and 6 sixes. The innings figures in the Top 10 ODI Batting Performances compiled by Wisden in February 2002[29] at No. 4. India won the match by 31 runs.[30] Unfortunately this match was not covered by any channel due to a BBC strike. It's said that after this match, Kapil Dev booked a Mercedes for himself as a memoir.[31] After a win against Australia, India entered the semi-finals.

In the semi-finals India faced the English cricket team. Kapil helped curtail the lower-order after England lost regular wickets to Roger Binny and Mohinder Amarnath. He took 3 wickets as India limited England to 213 and the middle order of Mohinder Amarnath (46 runs), Yashpal Sharma (61), Sandeep Patil (51*) ensured victory[32] and entry into the finals to take on the mighty West Indies cricket team who were looking for a hat-trick of World Cup titles. West Indies restricted India for 183 runs, with only Kris Srikkanth (38 runs) providing some scoring relief. Despite losing Gordon Greenidge, West Indies steadied their innings to 57/2 on the back of quick scoring by Viv Richards and looked comfortable. Richards played one too many aggressive shots when he skied a pull shot from Madan Lal that Kapil caught at deep square leg after running for over 20 yards running backwards. The catch is attributed as the turning point in the 1983 WC Final and is regarded as one of the finest in ODI Cricket. West Indies collapsed from 50/1 to 76/6 and finally were bowled out for 140 with Kapil picking up the wicket of Andy Roberts.[33] Kapil Dev had upset Clive Lloyd's West Indies to win India's maiden World Cup[34] and he led from the front with 303 runs (Average: 60.6), 12 wickets (Average: 20.41) and 7 catches in 8 matches – a truly all-round performance.

After the World Cup, India hosted the West Indies cricket team and felt their fury as the tourists won the Test series 3–0 and the ODI Series 6–0. Kapil Dev achieved his best test bowling performance in a loss at Motera Stadium, Ahmedabad with a return of 9/83.[35] His bowling performance in the test and ODI series was let down by his poor batting performance. The selectors ended the Kapil's reign by reappointing Gavaskar as captain in early 1984.

Kapil was reappointed captain in March 1985, and guided India on a Test series win over England on their tour in 1986. This period saw one of the most famous matches played during his reign, the second Tied Test, in which he was named joint-man of the match with Australian batsman Dean Jones.

Kapil was retained as captain for the 1987 Cricket World Cup. In their first match, Australia scored 268 against India. However, after the close of innings, Kapil Dev agreed with the umpires that the score should be increased to 270 as one boundary during the innings had been mistakenly signalled as a four and not a six. In their reply, India scored 269 falling short of Australia's score by one run. In the Wisden Cricketer's Almanack, it was reported that "Kapil Dev's sportsmanship proved the deciding factor in a close-run match".[36] India went on to reach the semi-final of the 1987 World Cup, where they lost to England. Kapil faced the blame for India's defeat as he holed out to deep mid-wicket triggering a collapse that led to the unexpected loss. He did not captain India again, even though he was the Vice-captain for India's tour to Pakistan in 1989.

The captaincy period was on the whole a difficult one for him as it was mired with reports of differences with Gavaskar, as well as his own inconsistent form as a bowler. However, both men have since insisted that these reports were exaggerated.[37] Above all the controversy, Kapil's performance was better when he was the Captain, than as a player underline that, he enjoyed and suited captaincy.

By the end of 1983, Kapil already had about 250 Test wickets in just five years and looked well on his way to becoming one of the most prolific wicket-takers ever. However, his bowling declined following knee surgery in 1984, as he lost some of his majestic jump at the crease. Despite this setback, he never missed playing a single test or one-day game on fitness grounds (save for his disciplinary ouster in the 3rd test at Calcutta during the 1984/85 series against England). He continued to be effective, if not devastating, for another ten years and became the second bowler ever to take 400 wickets in Test cricket in 1991–92 when he took Mark Taylor's wicket in a series versus Australia in Australia. In that Australian tour he took 25 wickets.

Kapil continued as India's lead pace bowler under a succession of captains in the early 1990s. He was involved in a notable incident during the Lord's Test Match of 1990, when he hit off-spinner Eddie Hemmings for four sixes in succession to take India past the follow-on target.[38] This match also featured the highest test score by an Englishman against India,[39] 333 by Graham Gooch. He was also cited by umpire Dickie Bird as being one of the greatest all-rounders of all-time.[40]

He also became a valuable batsman in the ODI version of the game, being used as a pinch-hitter to accelerate the run-scoring rate, usually in the final ten overs, and relied upon to stabilise the innings in the event of a collapse. He played in the 1992 Cricket World Cup, which was his last, under the captaincy of Mohammad Azharuddin. He led the bowling attack with younger talents like Javagal Srinath and Manoj Prabhakar, who would eventually succeed him as India's leading pace bowlers. He retired in 1994, after breaking Richard Hadlee's then standing record for the most Test wickets taken.

Kapil dev was appointed coach of the Indian national cricket team in 1999, succeeding Anshuman Gaekwad.[45] In his term, India won just one test match (at home against New Zealand) and had two major series losses in Australia (3–0) and at home against South Africa (2–0) and in general considered a disappointment.[46] At the height of the match fixing allegation by Manoj Prabhakar[47] – a charge that was dismissed later,[48] Kapil resigned from his position as national coach. Stung by the betting controversy, he announced his farewell stating that "I bid adieu to the game that gave me so much and then took a great deal of it away on the mere hearsay of a third party".[49] After a brief interval, he was succeeded as coach by former New Zealand batsman John Wright, who became India's first foreign coach.

After a period of silence away from the public eye, Kapil returned to cricket when Wisden announced him as one of the sixteen finalists for the Wisden Indian Cricketer of the Century award in July 2002. Kapil pipped longtime team-mate Gavaskar and crowd favourite Tendulkar to win the award and claimed the moment as "my finest hour".[2]

Kapil slowly returned to cricket as a bowling consultant[50] and was the bowling coach in the preparatory camp prior to India's tour of Pakistan in March 2004.[51] In October 2006, Kapil Dev was nominated as the chairman of National Cricket Academy for a 2-year period.[52]

In 2005, he acted in a brief role in the Cult Movie Iqbal written by Vipul K Rawal where he played himself. Initially the director was not keen on approaching him, however the writer Vipul K Rawal put his foot down as the role was written especially keeping him in mind.

In May 2007, Kapil joined the upstart Indian Cricket League (ICL) floated by Zee TV (which the IPL copied) as the chairman of executive board, defending his decision as complimenting BCCI's structure rather than opposing it – "We are not looking to create a rival team but helping the Indian board to find more talent".[53] In June 2007, BCCI responded by revoking the pension for all players who have joined ICL, including Kapil Dev.[54] on 21 August 2007, Kapil was removed from the chairmanship of the National Cricket Academy, a day after he addressed a formal press conference of the new Indian Cricket League.[citation needed]

On 25 July 2012 Kapil Dev informed BCCI that he has resigned from the rebel league ICL and will continue supporting them, thereby paving way to get back into the BCCI fold.[55]

He was introduced to Romi Bhatia by a common friend in 1979 and proposed to her in 1980.[59] The couple married in 1980 and had a daughter, Amiya Dev, on 16 January 1996.

After retirement from cricket in 1994, Kapil Dev took up golf.[60] Kapil was the only Asian founding member of Laureus Foundation in 2000. Ian Botham and Viv Richards were the other two cricketers on the founding member council of 40. Steve Waugh was added to the Academy members in 2006 when it was expanded from 40 to 42. He has written three autobiographical works. By God's Decree came out in 1985 and Cricket my style in 1987. He released his most recent autobiography, titled Straight from the Heart in 2004 (ISBN 1-4039-2227-6).[61] He pledged his organs during an event organized by Delhi Urological Society on January 31, 2014 at the Airport Authority of India, Officers Club, New Delhi.[62][63][64]

Kapil Dev has been actively courted by Indian businesses during and after his cricketing days as brand ambassador for their products because of the charisma that personifies the cricketer. Though not the first Indian cricketer to endorse brands, he was the first star brand on Indian Television with his Palmolive ka jawab nahin (Translation: Palmolive has no match). He also appears consistently on Headlines Today as a guest speaker. Other endorsements include:

In 1988, Kapil overtook Joel Garner to become the highest wicket-taker in ODI cricket. His final career tally of 253 wickets remained a record until it was broken by Wasim Akram in 1994.[85]

According to the ICC cricket ratings for all-rounders in ODI cricket,[86] Kapil's peak rating of 631 is the highest rating ever achieved. He reached this mark on 22 March 1985 after a World Series final against Pakistan in Australia.